Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
"Elderly" Woman Posts on Her Blog
Our local “big city” paper reports on accidents and
incidents – and I’ve noticed that they refer to people in these articles who are in the 60 plus age group
as “elderly”. Headlines such as “Elderly Woman Injured in Car Crash” go on to
tell about the 64 year old woman who was hurt. Since when is someone in their
60’s “elderly”?
Perhaps being in my 60s and not feeling elderly is
the reason I find this offensive. And many 60 + year olds in the news sure don’t
act and often don’t look “elderly”. Take Jane Fonda for instance, in her 70s
and she is still hot – good looking and active! Meryl Streep – born in 1949 and
still vital. How about Harrison Ford who is now 70, Jeff Bridges, also born in
1949, Robert De Niro born in 1943, Sigourney Weaver born in 1949, Diane Keaton (one of my favorite actresses)
born in 1946, Goldie Hawn, 1945, Glenn
Close, 1947,and Michael Douglas 1944.
None of these actors would be described as “elderly” when written about in the
paper. So why are the papers using the term?
The entire age thing can be very depressing when you
think about it. As I grow older, I find my outlook on life has changed. When I
was in my 20s, 30s, and 40s, life stretched out in front of me and while I looked
at my future, I felt it was a long way off. I must say that my 50s were the
best time (so far) in my life. I felt good, was happy with my life, had hit my
stride in my work, and generally was enjoying living. My 60s are also good but
now I’m retired and have a different focus on life. It’s an attitude rather
than a “no wrinkles” thing. If you don’t feel OLD, I don’t think you act or
think you are old. I do find I pay attention to my body and try not to obsess over
a little ach or pain. How would I describe myself? Retired and happy, sure as
hell not “elderly”! I goggled “elderly”
and found it is both an adjective and a noun. As an adjective it means “quite
old; past middle age”. The Encyclopedia Britannica says that in human beings,
elderly is the final stage of the normal life span. It also adds to that “old
age is frequently defined as 60 or 65 years of age”. Sorry – I still feel the
term elderly is not acceptable. Older is an acceptable word so I’m older – but then
again we all are older than we were yesterday. I’d even go with “Senior” or”
Senior Citizen”. I guess it’s a matter of how you perceive yourself rather than
how others perceive you. So please DON’T call me elderly!
Monday, August 06, 2012
Monday Thoughts
The other day - over a week - my wireless printer stopped working. At least it stopped working when I sent it something to print from my lap top. I seem to have problems with printers but can usually solve them. So, after trying several things, I just stopped and the concern was in the back of my mind. So, today I re-installed the drivers did a few things and yep, it now works! Yea, me!!! I find that most things "wrong" can be resolved by stepping back and then starting again. Often the light bulb goes off and a potential solution comes to mind. Some work like this one - others don't. So I'm happy!
We had a muggy several days and I ended up cooking inside as it was raining off and on all day yesterday. Dark skies and boomers but while we had heavy rain and wind, no damage. The folk at the Pocono Races did have not only severe weather but one person died and several were injured from lightning. We are close to the lake and can often hear boats out on the water during dark storm coming weather. Crazy!
It's interesting how one notes the seasons changing. It's the first week in August and the sun comes in the kitchen window at a different angle. In the spring it hits our eyes in the breakfast area as we eat breakfast - now it's a bit moved and hitting the kitchen counter as we eat. It's also getting darker earlier (I know, duh) as we put on the outside spots both in the morning (5:30 AM) and evening (8:45 or 9:00 PM) for Honey's walk (and our safety). My herbs are doing well, the basil is bushy and the mint prolific. The dill didn't do great but better than last year when it only produced a straggly single head. I put my dill in the refrigerator pickles I made two weeks ago. However, when I made the pepper pickles I had to use purchased dried dill.
We are looking forward to a less muggy and mostly sunny week.
We had a muggy several days and I ended up cooking inside as it was raining off and on all day yesterday. Dark skies and boomers but while we had heavy rain and wind, no damage. The folk at the Pocono Races did have not only severe weather but one person died and several were injured from lightning. We are close to the lake and can often hear boats out on the water during dark storm coming weather. Crazy!
It's interesting how one notes the seasons changing. It's the first week in August and the sun comes in the kitchen window at a different angle. In the spring it hits our eyes in the breakfast area as we eat breakfast - now it's a bit moved and hitting the kitchen counter as we eat. It's also getting darker earlier (I know, duh) as we put on the outside spots both in the morning (5:30 AM) and evening (8:45 or 9:00 PM) for Honey's walk (and our safety). My herbs are doing well, the basil is bushy and the mint prolific. The dill didn't do great but better than last year when it only produced a straggly single head. I put my dill in the refrigerator pickles I made two weeks ago. However, when I made the pepper pickles I had to use purchased dried dill.
We are looking forward to a less muggy and mostly sunny week.
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